Table Of ContentThe Project Gutenberg EBook of Percival Keene, by Frederick Marryat
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Title: Percival Keene
Author: Frederick Marryat
Release Date: May 22, 2007 [EBook #21572]
Language: English
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Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
Captain Marryat
"Percival Keene"
Chapter One.
A few miles from the town of Southampton there is an old mansion-house, which has been for
centuries known as Madeline Hall, in the possession of the de Versely family. It is a handsome
building, surrounded by a finely timbered park of some extent, and, what is more important, by about
12,000 acres of land, which also appertain to it. At the period in which I commence this history, there
resided in this mansion an elderly spinster of rank, named the Honourable Miss Delmar, sister of the
late Lord de Versely and aunt to the present earl, and an Honourable Captain Delmar, who was the
second son of the deceased nobleman. This property belonged to the Honourable Miss Delmar, and
was at her entire disposal upon her decease.
The Honourable Captain Delmar, at the time I am speaking of, commanded a frigate employed upon
what was designated channel service, which in those days implied that the captain held a seat in the
House of Commons and that he voted with the ministry; and further, that his vote might, when
required, be forthcoming, the frigate was never sea-going, except during the recess. It must be
admitted that H.M. ship Paragon did occasionally get under weigh and remain cruising in sight of land
for two or three days, until the steward reported that the milk provided for the captain’s table was
turning sour; upon which important information the helm was immediately put up, and the frigate, in
a case of such extreme distress, would drop her anchor at the nearest port under her lee. Now as the
Paragon was constantly at Spithead, Captain Delmar was very attentive in visiting his aunt, who lived
at Madeline Hall; ill-natured people asserted, because she had so fine an estate in her own gift.
Certain it is, that he would remain there for weeks, which gave great satisfaction to the old lady, who
liked her nephew, liked attention, and was even so peculiar as to like sailors. But it must be observed
that there was another person at the mansion who also liked the captain, liked attention, and liked
sailors; this was Miss Arabella Mason, a very pretty young woman of eighteen years of age, who
constantly looked in the glass merely to ascertain if she had ever seen a face which she preferred to
her own, and who never read any novel without discovering that there was a remarkable likeness
between the heroine and her pretty self.
Miss Arabella Mason was the eldest daughter of the steward of the old Lord de Versely, brother to the
Honourable Miss Delmar, and was much respected by his lordship for his fidelity and his knowledge of
business, in the transaction of which he fell, for he was felling trees, and a tree fell upon him. He left
a widow and two daughters: it was said that at his death Mrs Mason was not badly off, as her
husband had been very careful of his earnings. Mrs Mason, however, did not corroborate this
statement; on the contrary, she invariably pleaded poverty; and the Honourable Miss Delmar, after
Lord de Versely’s death—which happened soon after that of his steward—sent both the daughters to
be educated at a country school, where, as everything that is taught is second-rate, young ladies, of
course, receive a second-rate education. Mrs Mason was often invited by the Honourable Miss Delmar
to spend a month at Madeline Hall, and used to bring her eldest daughter, who had left school, with
her. Latterly, however, the daughter remained as a fixture, and Mrs Mason received but an occasional
invitation. It may be inquired in what capacity Miss Arabella Mason remained at the Hall; she was not
a servant, for her position in life was above that of a menial; neither was she received altogether in
the saloon, as she was of too humble a grade to mix with gentry and nobility; she was, therefore,
betwixt and between, a sort of humble companion in the drawing-room, a cut above the housekeeper
in the still-room, a fetcher and carrier of the honourable spinster’s wishes, a sort of link between the
aristocratic old dame and her male attendants, towards whom she had a sort of old maidish aversion.
However this position might be found useful to her mistress, it must be admitted that it was a most
unfortunate position for a young, thoughtless, and very pretty girl, moreover, who was naturally very
lively, very smart in repartee, and very fond of being admired.
As the Honourable Captain Delmar was very constant in his visits to his aunt, it was but natural that
he should pay some little attention to her humble companion. By degrees the intimacy increased, and
at last there were reports in the servants’ hall, that the captain and Miss Bella Mason had been seen
together in the evergreen walk; and as the captain’s visits were continually repeated during the space
of two years so did the scandal increase, and people became more ill-natured. It was now seen that
Miss Bella had been very often found in tears, and the old butler and the older housekeeper shook
their heads at each other like responsive mandarins; the only person who was ignorant of the scandal
afloat was the old lady spinster herself.
I must now introduce another personage. The Honourable Captain Delmar did not, of course, travel
without his valet, and this important personage had been selected out of the marine corps which had
been drafted into the frigate. Benjamin Keene, for such was his name, was certainly endowed with
several qualities which were indispensable in a valet; he was very clean in his person, very respectful
in his deportment, and, after the sovereign of Great Britain, looked upon the Honourable Captain
Delmar as the greatest person in the world. Moreover, Benjamin Keene, although only a private
marine was, without exception, one of the handsomest men that ever was seen and being equally as
well made and well drilled as he was handsome in person, he was the admiration of all the young
women. But Nature, who delights in a drawback, had contrived to leave him almost without brains;
and further, he was wholly uneducated—for he was too stupid to learn—his faculties were just
sufficient to enable him, by constant drilling, to be perfect in the manual exercise, and mechanically
to perform his duties as a valet.
Ben always accompanied his master to the hall, where the former was at one and the same time the
admiration and laughter of all the servants. It hardly need be observed, that the clever and sprightly
Miss Arabella Mason considered Ben as one much beneath her, that is, she said so on his first arrival
at Madeline hall; but, strange to say, that two years afterwards, just at the time that reports had
been raised that she had been frequently discovered in tears, there was a change in her manner
towards him; indeed some people insinuated that she was setting her cap at the handsome marine:
this idea, it is true, was ridiculed by the majority; but still the intimacy appeared rapidly to increase.
It was afterwards asserted by those who find out everything after it has taken place, that Ben would
never have ventured to look up to such an unequal match had he not been prompted to it by his
master, who actually proposed that he should marry the girl. That such was the fact is undoubted,
although they knew it not; and Ben, who considered the wish of his captain as tantamount to an
order, as soon as he could comprehend what his captain required of him, stood up erect and raised
his hand with a flourish to his head, in token of his obedience. Shortly afterwards, Captain Delmar
again came over to Madeline Hall, accompanied as usual, by Ben, and the second day after their
arrival it was made known to all whom it might concern, that Miss Arabella Mason had actually
contracted a secret marriage with the handsome Benjamin Keene.
Of course, the last person made acquainted with this interesting intelligence was the Honourable Miss
Delmar, and her nephew took upon himself to make the communication. At first the honourable
spinster bridled up with indignation, wondered at the girl’s indelicacy, and much more at her
demeaning herself by marrying a private marine. Captain Delmar replied, that it was true that Ben
was only a private, but that every common soldier was a gentleman by profession. It was true that
Bella Mason might have done better—but she was his aunt’s servant, and Keene was his valet, so
that the disparity was not so very great. He then intimated that he had long perceived the growing
attachment; talked of the danger of young people being left so much together; hinted about
opportunity, and descanted upon morals and propriety. The Honourable Miss Delmar was softened
down by the dexterous reasoning of her nephew; she was delighted to find so much virtue extant in a
sailor; and, after an hour’s conversation, the married couple were sent for, graciously pardoned, and
Mrs Keene, after receiving a very tedious lecture, received a very handsome present. But if her
mistress was appeased, Mrs Keene’s mother was not. As soon as the intelligence was received, old
Mrs Mason set off for Madeline Hall. She first had a closeted interview with her daughter, and then
with Captain Delmar, and as soon as the latter was over, she immediately took her departure,
without paying her respects to the mistress of the Hall, or exchanging one word with any of the
servants; this conduct gave occasion to more innuendoes—some indeed ascribed her conduct to
mortification at her daughter’s having made so imprudent a match, but others exchanged very
significant glances.
Three weeks after the marriage, the Parliament having been prorogued, the admiral of the port
considered that he was justified in ordering the frigate out on a cruise. Ben Keene, of course
accompanied his master, and it was not until three months had passed away that the frigate returned
into port. As usual, the Honourable Captain Delmar, as soon as he had paid his respects to the
admiral, set off to visit his aunt, accompanied by his benedict marine. On his arrival, he found that
everything appeared to be in great confusion; indeed an event was occurring which had astonished
the whole household; the butler made a profound bow to the captain; the footmen forgot their usual
smirk when he alighted. Captain Delmar was ushered in solemn silence into the drawing-room, and
his aunt, who had notice of his arrival received him with a stiff, prim air of unwonted frigidity, with
her arms crossed before her on her white muslin apron.
“My dear aunt,” said Captain Delmar, as she coldly took his proffered hand, “what is the matter?”
“The matter is this, nephew,” replied the old lady—“that marriage of your marine and Bella Mason
should have taken place six months sooner than it did. This is a wicked world, nephew; and sailors,
I’m afraid, are—”
“Marines, you should say, in this instance, my dear aunt,” replied Captain Delmar, insinuatingly. “I
must confess that neither sailors nor marines are quite so strict as they ought to be; however, Ben
has married her. Come, my dear aunt, allow me to plead for them, although I am very much
distressed that such an event should take place in your house. I think,” added he, after a pause, “I
shall give Mr Keene seven dozen at the gangway, for his presumption, as soon as I return on board.”
“That won’t mend the matter, nephew,” replied Miss Delmar. “I’ll turn her out of the house as soon as
she can be moved.”
“And I’ll flog him as soon as I get him on board,” rejoined the captain. “I will not have your feelings
shocked, and your mind harassed in this way, by any impropriety on the part of my followers—most
infamous—shameful—abominable—unpardonable,” interjected the captain, walking the quarter-deck
up and down the room.
The Honourable Miss Delmar continued to talk, and the honourable captain to agree with her in all
she said, for an hour at least. W hen people are allowed to give vent to their indignation without the
smallest opposition they soon talk it away; such was the case with the Honourable Miss Delmar.
When it was first announced that Bella Keene was safely in bed with a fine boy, the offended spinster
turned away from the communication with horror; when her own maid ventured to remark that it was
a lovely baby, she was ordered to hold her tongue; she would not see the suffering mother, and the
horrid marine was commanded to stay in the kitchen, lest she should be contaminated by meeting
him on the stairs; but every day softened down her indignation, and before a fortnight was over the
Honourable Miss Delmar had not only seen but admired the baby; and at last decided upon paying a
visit to the mother, who was now sufficiently recovered to undergo a lecture of about two hours’
length,
in
which
the
honourable
spinster
commented
upon
her ind e ce ncy, indiscretion,
inconsiderateness, incorrectness, indecorum, incontinence, and indelicacy; pointing out that her
conduct was most inexcusable, iniquitous, and most infamous. The Honourable Miss Delmar having
had such a long innings then gave it up, because she was out of breath. Bella, who waited patiently
to make her response, and who was a very clever girl, then declared, with many tears, that she was
aware that her conduct was inexcusable, her faults had been involuntary, and her sorrow was
inexpressible; her inexperience and her infatuation her only apology; that her infelicity at her
mistress’s displeasure would inevitably increase her sufferings; assured her that she was not
incorrigible, and that if her mistress would only indulge her with forgiveness, as she hoped to inherit
heaven she would never incur her anger by committing the same fault again. Satisfied with this
assurance, the Honourable Miss Delmar softened down, and not only forgave, but actually took the
child into her lap that Bella might read the Bible which she had presented her with. Reader, the child
who had this great honour conferred upon him, who actually laid in the immaculate lap, on the apron
of immaculate snowy whiteness of the immaculate Honourable Miss Delmar, was no other person than
the narrator of this history—or, if you please it, the Hero of this Tale.
That my mother had so far smoothed things pretty well must be acknowledged; but it was to be
presumed that her husband might not be pleased at so unusual an occurrence, and already the sneers
and innuendoes of the servants’ hall were not wanting. It appeared, however, that an interview had
taken place between Ben and Captain Delmar shortly after my making my appearance: what occurred
did not transpire, but this is certain that, upon the marine’s return to the kitchen, one of the grooms,
who ventured to banter him, received such a sound thrashing from Ben that it put an end to all
further joking. As Ben had taken up the affair so seriously, it was presumed that if there had been
anticipation of the hymeneal rites he was himself the party who had been hasty; and that now he
was married, he was resolved to resent any impertinent remarks upon his conduct. At all events, the
question now became one of less interest, as the scandal was of less importance; and as Ben had
made known his determination to resent any remarks upon the subject, not a word more was said, at
all events when he was present.
In due time I was christened, and so completely was my mother reinstalled in the good graces of her
mistress, that as Captain Delmar had volunteered to stand my sponsor, the Honourable Miss Delmar
gave the necessary female security; at the particular request of my mother, the captain consented
that I should bear his own Christian name, and I was duly registered in the church books as Percival
Keene.
Chapter Two.
There is no security in this world. A dissolution of Parliament took place, and on the following election
the Honourable Captain Delmar’s constituents, not being exactly pleased at the total indifference
which he had shown to their interests, took upon themselves to elect another member in his stead,
who, as Captain Delmar had previously done, promised everything, and in all probability would follow
the honourable captain’s example by performing nothing. The loss of his election was followed up by
the loss of his ship, his majesty’s government not considering it necessary that Captain Delmar (now
that he had leisure to attend to his professional duties) should retain his command. The frigate,
therefore, was paid off, and recommissioned by another captain who had friends in Parliament.
As Ben Keene belonged to the marine corps, he could not, of course, remain as valet to Captain
Delmar, but was ordered, with the rest of the detachment, to the barracks at Chatham; my mother,
although she was determined that she would not live at barracks, was not sorry to leave the Hall,
where she could not fail to perceive that she was, from her imprudent conduct, no longer treated with
the respect or cordiality to which she had been previously accustomed. She was most anxious to quit
a place in which her disgrace was so well known; and Captain Delmar having given her his advice,
which coincided with her own ideas, and also a very munificent present to enable her to set up
housekeeping, took his departure from the Hall. My mother returned to her room as the wheels of his
carriage rattled over the gravel of the drive, and many were the bitter tears which she shed over her
unconscious boy.
The following day the Honourable Miss Delmar sent for her; as usual, commenced with a tedious
lecture, which, as before, was wound up at parting with a handsome present. The day after my
mother packed up her trunks, and with me in her arms set off to Chatham, where we arrived safely,
and immediately went into furnished lodgings. My mother was a clever, active woman, and the
presents which she had at different times received amounted to a considerable sum of money, over
which her husband had never ventured to assert any claim.
Indeed, I must do Ben Keene the justice to say that he had the virtue of humility. He felt that his
wife was in every way his superior and that it was only under peculiar circumstances that he could
have aspired to her. He was, therefore, submissive to her in everything, consenting to every proposal
that was made by her, and guided by her opinion. W hen, therefore, on her arrival at Chatham, she
pointed out how impossible it would be for one brought up as she had been to associate with the
women in the barracks, and that she considered it advisable that she should set up some business by
which she might gain a respectable livelihood, Ben, although he felt that this would be a virtual
separation a mensâ et thoro, named no objections. Having thus obtained the consent of her husband,
who considered her so much his superior as to be infallible, my mother, after much cogitation,
resolved that she would embark her capital in a circulating library and stationer’s shop; for she argued
that selling paper, pens, and sealing-wax was a commerce which would secure to her customers of
the better class. Accordingly, she hired a house close to the barracks, with a very good-sized shop
below, painting and papering it very smartly; there was much taste in all her arrangements, and
although the expenses of the outlay and the first year’s rent had swallowed up a considerable portion
of the money she had laid by, it soon proved that she had calculated well, and her shop became a
sort of lounge for the officers, who amused themselves with her smartness and vivacity, the more so
as she had a talent for repartee, which men like to find in a very pretty woman.
In a short time my mother became quite the rage, and it was a mystery how so pretty and elegant a
person could have become the wife of a private marine. It was however, ascribed to her having been
captivated with the very handsome person and figure of her husband, and having yielded to her
feelings in a moment of infatuation. The ladies patronised her circulating library; the officers and
gentlemen purchased her stationery. My mother then added gloves, perfumery, canes, and lastly
cigars, to her previous assortment and before she had been a year in business, found that she was
making money very fast, and increasing her customers every day. My mother had a great deal of tact;
with the other sex she was full of merriment and fond of joking, consequently a great favourite;
towards her own sex her conduct was quite the reverse; she assumed a respectful, prudish air,
blended with a familiarity which was never offensive; she was, therefore, equally popular with her
own sex, and prospered in every sense of the word. Had her husband been the least inclined to have
asserted his rights, the position which she had gained was sufficient to her reducing him to a state of
subjection. She had raised herself, unaided, far above him; he saw her continually chatting and
laughing with his own officers, to whom he was compelled to make a respectful salute whenever they
passed by him; he could not venture to address her, or even to come into the shop, when his officers
were there, or it would have been considered disrespectful towards them; and as he could not sleep
out of barracks, all his intercourse with her was to occasionally slink down by the area, to find
something better to eat than he could have in his own mess, or obtain from her an occasional shilling
to spend in beer. Ben, the marine, found at last that somehow or another, his wife had slipped out of
his hands; that he was nothing more than a pensioner on her bounty a slave to her wishes, and a
fetcher and carrier at her command, and he resigned himself quietly to his fate, as better men have
done before.
Chapter Three.
I think that the reader will agree with me that my mother showed in her conduct great strength of
character. She had been compelled to marry a man whom she despised, and to whom she felt herself
superior in every respect; she had done so to save her reputation. That she had been in error is true
but situation and opportunity had conspired against her; and when she found out the pride and
selfishness of the man to whom she was devoted, and for whom she had sacrificed so much,—when
her ears were wounded by proposals from his lips that she should take such a step to avoid the
scandal arising from their intimacy—when at the moment that he made such a proposition, and the
veil fell down and revealed the heart of man in its selfishness, it is not to be wondered that, with
bitter tears, arising from wounded love, anger, and despair at her hopeless position, she consented.
After having lost all she valued, what did she care for the future? It was but one sacrifice more to
make, one more proof of her devotion and obedience. But there are few women who, like my mother,
would have recovered her position to the extent that she did. Had she not shown such determination,
had she consented to have accompanied her husband to the barracks, and have mixed up with the
other wives of the men, she would have gradually sunk down to their level; to this she could not
consent. Having once freed herself from her thraldom, he immediately sunk down to his level, as she
rose up to a position in which, if she could not ensure more than civility and protection, she was at all
events secure from insult and ill-treatment.
Such was the state of affairs when I had arrived at the important age of six years, a comic-looking,
laughing urchin, petted by the officers, and as fall of mischief as a tree full of monkeys. My mother’s
business had so much increased, that, about a year previous to this date, she had found it necessary
to have some one to assist her, and had decided upon sending for her sister Amelia to live with her.
It was, however, necessary to obtain her mother’s consent. My grandmother had never seen my
mother since the interview which she had had with her at Madeline Hall shortly after her marriage
with Ben the marine. Latterly, however, they had corresponded; for my mother, who was too
independent to seek her mother when she was merely the wife of a private marine, now that she was
in flourishing circumstances had first tendered the olive branch, which had been accepted, as soon as
my grandmother found that she was virtually separated from her husband. As my grandmother found
it rather lonely at the isolated house in which she resided, and Amelia declared herself bored to
death, it was at last agreed that my grandmother and my aunt Amelia should both come and take up
their residence with my mother, and in due time they arrived. Milly, as my aunt was called, was three
years younger than my mother, very pretty and as smart as her sister, perhaps a little more demure
in her look, but with more mischief in her disposition. My grandmother was a cross, spiteful old
woman; she was very large in her person, but very respectable in her appearance. I need not say that
Miss Amelia did not lessen the attraction at the circulating library, which after her arrival was even
more frequented by the officers than before.
My aunt Milly was very soon as fond of me as I was of mischief; indeed it is not to be wondered at,
for I was a type of the latter. I soon loved her better than my mother, for she encouraged me in all
my tricks. My mother looked grave, and occasionally scolded me; my grandmother slapped me hard
and rated me continually; but reproof or correction from the two latter were of no avail; and the
former, when she wished to play any trick which she dared not do herself, employed me as her agent;
so that I obtained the whole credit for what were her inventions, and I may safely add, underwent the
whole blame and punishment; but that I cared nothing for; her caresses, cakes, and sugar-plums,
added to my natural propensity, more than repaid me for the occasional severe rebukes of my mother,
and the vindictive blows I received from the long fingers of my worthy grandmother. Moreover, the
officers took much notice of me, and it must be admitted, that, although I positively refused to learn
my letters, I was a very forward child. My great patron was a Captain Bridgeman, a very thin,
elegantly-made man, who was continually performing feats of address and activity; occasionally I
would escape with him and go down to the mess, remain at dinner, drink toasts, and, standing on the
mess-table, sing two or three comic songs which he had taught me. I sometimes returned a little
merry with the bumpers, which made my mother very angry, my old grandmother to hold up her
hands, and look at the ceiling through her spectacles, and my aunt Milly as merry as myself. Before I
was eight years old, I had become so notorious, that any prank played in the town, any trick
undiscovered, was invariably laid to my account; and many were the applications made to my mother
for indemnification for broken windows and other damage done, too often, I grant, with good reason,
but very often when I had been perfectly innocent of the misdemeanour. At last I was voted a
common nuisance, and every one, except my mother and my aunt Milly, declared that it was high time
that I went to school.
One evening the whole of the family were seated at tea in the back parlour. I was sitting very quietly
and demurely in a corner, a sure sign that I was in mischief, and so indeed I was (for I was putting a
little gunpowder into my grandmother’s snuff-box, which I had purloined, just that she might “smell
powder,” as they say at sea, without danger of life or limb), when the old woman addressed my
mother—
“Bella, is that boy never going to school? it will be the ruin of him.”
“What will be the ruin of him, mother?” rejoined my aunt Milly; “going to school?”
“Hold your nonsense, child: you are as bad as the boy himself,” replied granny. “Boys are never ruined
by education; girls sometimes are.”
W hether my mother thought that this was an innuendo reflecting upon any portion of her own life, I
cannot tell; but she replied very tartly.
“You’re none the worse for my education, mother, or you would not be sitting here.”
“Very true, child,” replied granny; “but recollect, neither would you have married a marine—a private
marine, Bella, while your sister looks up to the officers. Ay,” continued the old woman, leaving off her
knitting and looking at her daughter, “and is likely to get one, too, if she plays her cards well—that
Lieutenant Flat can’t keep out of the shop.” (My granny having at this moment given me an
opportunity to replace her snuff-box, I did not fail to profit by it; and as I perceived her knitting-pin
had dropped on the floor, I stuck it into the skirt of her gown behind, so that whenever she looked for
it, it was certain ever to be behind her.)
“Mr Flat is of a very respectable family, I hear say,” continued my grandmother.
“And a great fool,” interrupted my mother. “I hope Milly won’t listen to him.”
“He’s an officer,” replied my granny, “not a private.”
“Well, mother, I prefer my private marine, for I can make him do as I please; if he’s a private, I’m
commanding officer, and intend so to be as long as I live.”
“Well, well, Bella, let us say no more on the old score; but that boy must go to school. Deary me, I
have dropped my needle.”
My grandmother rose, and turned round and round, looking for her needle, which, strange to say, she
could not find; she opened her snuff-box, and took a pinch to clear her optics. “Deary me, why, what’s
the matter with my snuff? and where can that needle be? Child, come and look for the needle; don’t
be sticking there in that corner.”
I thought proper to obey the order and pretended to be very diligent in my search. Catching aunt
Milly’s eye, I pointed to the knitting-needle sticking in the hind skirts of my grandmother’s gown, and
then was down on my knees again, while my aunt held her handkerchief to her mouth to check her
laughter.
A minute afterwards, Ben the marine first tapped gently, and then opened the door and came in; for
at that late hour the officers were all at dinner, and the shop empty.
“There are three parcels of books for you to take,” said my mother; “but you’ve plenty of time, so
take down the tea-things, and get your tea in the kitchen before you go.”
“You haven’t got a shilling, Bella, about you? I want some ’baccy,” said Ben, in his quiet way.
“Yes, here’s a shilling, Ben; but don’t drink too much beer,” replied my mother.
“Deary me, what can have become of my needle?” exclaimed my grandmother, turning round.
“Here it is, ma’am,” said Ben, who perceived it sticking in her skirt. “That’s Percival’s work, I’ll answer
for it.”
My granny received the needle from Ben, and then turned to me: “You good-for-nothing boy; so you
put the needle there, did you? pretending to look for it all the while; you shall go to school, sir, that
you shall.”
“You said a needle, granny; I was looking for a needle: you didn’t say your knitting-pin; I could have
told you where that was.”
“Yes, yes, those who hide can find; to school you go, or I’ll not stay in the house.”
Ben took the tea-tray out of the room. He had been well drilled in and out of barracks.
“I’ll go down in the kitchen to father,” cried I, for I was tired of sitting still.
“No, you won’t, sir,” said my mother, “you naughty boy; the kitchen is not the place for you, and if
ever I hear of you smoking a pipe again—”
“Captain Bridgeman smokes,” replied I.
“Yes, sir, he smokes cigars; but a child like you must not smoke a pipe.”
“And now come here, sir,” said my granny, who had the lid of her snuff-box off, and held it open in
her hand; “what have you been doing with my snuff?”
“Why, granny, have I had your snuff-box the whole day?”
“How should I know?—a boy like you, with every finger a fish-hook; I do believe you have; I only wish
I could find you out. I had fresh snuff this morning.”
“Perhaps they made a mistake at the shop, mother,” said aunt Milly; “they are very careless.”
“Well, I can’t tell: I must have some more; I can’t take this.”
“Throw it in the fire, granny,” said I; “and I’ll run with the box and get it full again.”
“Well, I suppose it’s the best thing I can do,” replied the old woman, who went to the grate, and
leaning over, poured the snuff out on the live coals. The result was a loud explosion and a volume of
smoke, which burst out of the grate into her face—the dinner and lappets singed, her spectacles lifted
from her nose, and her face as black as a sweep’s. The old woman screamed, and threw herself back;
in so doing, she fell over the chair upon which she had been sitting, and, somehow or another,
tripped me up, and lay with all her weight upon me. I had been just attempting to make my escape
during the confusion—for my mother and Milly were equally frightened—when I found myself
completely smothered by the weight of my now almost senseless granny, and, as I have before
mentioned, she was a very corpulent woman. Had I been in any other position I should not have
suffered so much; but I had unfortunately fallen flat on my back, and was now lying with my face
upwards, pressed upon by the broadest part of the old woman’s body; my nose was flattened, and my
breath completely stopped. How long my granny might have remained there groaning I cannot tell;
probably, as I was somewhat a spoiled child before this, it might have ended in her completely
finishing me; but she was roused up from her state of half syncope by a vigorous attack from my
teeth, which, in the agony of suffocation, I used with preternatural force of jaw from one so young. I
bit right through everything she had on, and as my senses were fast departing, my teeth actually met
with my convulsive efforts. My granny, roused by the extreme pain, rolled over on her side, and then
it was that my mother and aunt, who supposed that I had made my escape from the room, discovered
me lifeless, and black in the face. They ran to me, but I still held on with my teeth, nor could I be
separated from my now screaming relative, until the admission of fresh air, and a plentiful sprinkling
of cold water brought me to my senses, when I was laid on the sofa utterly exhausted. It certainly
was a narrow escape, and it may be said that the “biter was nearly bit.” As for my granny, she
recovered her fright and her legs, but she did not recover her temper; she could not sit down without
a pillow on the chair for many days, and, although little was said to me in consequence of the danger
I had incurred, yet there was an evident abhorrence of me on the part of the old woman, a quiet
manner about my mother, and a want of her usual hilarity on the part of my aunt, which were to me a
foreboding of something unpleasant. A few days brought to light what was the result of various
whisperings and consultations. It was on a fine Monday morning, that Ben made his appearance at an
unusually early hour; my cap was put on my head, my cloak over my shoulders; Ben took me by the
hand, having a covered basket in the other, and I was led away like a lamb to the butcher. As I went
out there was a tear in the eyes of my aunt Milly, a melancholy over the countenance of my mother,
and a twinkling expression of satisfaction in my grandmother’s eyes, which even her spectacles could
not conceal from me: the fact was, my grandmother had triumphed, and I was going to school.
Chapter Four.
As soon as I was clear of the door, I looked up into Ben’s face and said, “Father, where are we
going?”
“Well,” replied he, “I am going to take you to school.”
“School! What am I going to school for?” replied I.
“For biting your grandmother, I expect, in the first place, and to get a little learning, and a good deal
of flogging, if what they say is true! I never was at school myself.”
“What do you learn, and why are you flogged?”
“You learn to read, and to write, and to count; I can’t do either—more’s the pity; and you are flogged,
because without flogging, little boys can’t learn anything.”
This was not a very satisfactory explanation. I made no further inquiries, and we continued our way in
silence until we arrived at the school door; there was a terrible buzz inside. Ben tapped, the door
opened, and a volume of hot air burst forth, all the fresh air having been consumed in repeating the
fresh lessons for the day. Ben walked up between the forms, and introduced me to the schoolmaster,
whose name was Mr Thadeus O’Gallagher, a poor scholar from Ireland, who had set up an
establishment at half-a-guinea a quarter for day scholars; he was reckoned a very severe master, and
the children were kept in better order in his school than in any other establishment of the kind in the
town; and I presume that my granny had made inquiries to that effect, as there were one or two
schools of the same kind much nearer to my mother’s house. Ben, who probably had a great respect
for learning, in consequence of his having none himself, gave a military salute to Mr O’Gallagher,
saying, with his hand still to his hat, “A new boy, sir, come to school.”
“Oh, by the powers! don’t I know him?” cried Mr O’Gallagher; “it’s the young gentleman who bit a hole
in his grandmother; Master Keene, as they call him. Keen teeth, at all events. Lave him with me; and
that’s his dinner in the basket I presume; lave that too. He’ll soon be a good boy, or it will end in a
blow-up.”
Ben put down the basket, turned on his heel, and left the schoolroom, and me standing by the throne
of my future pedagogue—I say throne, because he had not a desk, as schoolmasters generally have,
but a sort of square daïs, about eighteen inches high, on which was placed another oblong
superstructure of the same height, serving him for a seat; both parts were covered with some patched
and torn old drugget, and upon subsequent examination I found them to consist of three old claret
cases without covers, which he had probably picked up very cheap; two of them turned upside down,
so as to form the lower square, and the third placed in the same way upside down, upon the two
lower. Mr O’Gallagher sat in great dignity upon the upper one, with his feet on the lower, being thus
sufficiently raised upon an eminence to command a view of the whole of his pupils in every part of
the school. He was not a tall man, but very square built, with carroty hair and very bushy red
whiskers; to me he appeared a most formidable person, especially when he opened his large mouth
and displayed his teeth, when I was reminded of the sign of the Red Lion close to my mother’s house.
I certainly never had been before so much awed during my short existence as I was with the
appearance of my pedagogue, who sat before me somewhat in the fashion of a Roman tribune,
holding in his hand a short round ruler, as if it were his truncheon of authority. I had not been a
minute in the school before I observed him to raise his arm; away went the ruler whizzing through the
air, until it hit the skull of the lad for whom it was intended at the other end of the schoolroom. The
boy, who had been talking to his neighbour, rubbed his poll, and whined.
“W hy don’t you bring back my ruler, you spalpeen?” said Mr O’Gallagher. “Be quick, Johnny Target, or
it will end in a blow-up.”
The boy, who was not a little confused with the blow, sufficiently recovered his senses to obey the
order, and whimpering as he came up, returned the ruler to the hands of Mr O’Gallagher.
“That tongue of yours will get you into more trouble than it will business, I expect, Johnny Target; it’s
an unruly member, and requires a constant ruler over it.” Johnny Target rubbed his head and said
nothing.
“Master Keene,” said he, after a short pause, “did you see what a tundering tump on the head that
boy got just now, and do you know what it was for?”
“No,” replied I.
“W here’s your manners, you animal? No ‘If you plase.’ For the future, you must not forget to say, ‘No,
sir,’ or, ‘No, Mr O’Gallagher.’ D’ye mind me—now say yes—what?”
“Yes, what!”
“Yes, what! you little ignoramus; say ‘yes, Mr O’Gallagher,’ and recollect, as the parish clerk says,
‘this is the last time of asking.’”
“Yes, Mr O’Gallagher.”
“Ah! now you see, there’s nothing like coming to school—you’ve learn’t manners already; and now, to
go back again, as to why Johnny Target had the rap on the head, which brought tears into his eyes?
I’ll just tell you, it was for talking; you see, the first thing for a boy to learn, is to hold his tongue,
and that shall be your lesson for the day; you’ll just sit down there and if you say one word during
the whole time you are in the school, it will end in a blow-up; that means, on the present occasion,
that I’ll skin you alive as they do the eels, which being rather keen work, will just suit your
constitution.” I had wit enough to feel assured that Mr O’Gallagher was not to be trifled with, so I
took my seat, and amused myself with listening to the various lessons which the boys came up to
say, and the divers punishments inflicted—few escaped. At last, the hour of recreation and dinner
arrived, the boys were dismissed, each seized his basket, containing his provisions, or ran home to
get his meal with his parents: I found myself sitting in the school-room tête-à-tête with Mr
O’Gallagher, and feeling very well inclined for my dinner I cast a wistful eye at my basket, but I said
nothing; Mr O’Gallagher, who appeared to have been in thought, at last said—
“Mr Keene, you may now go out of school, and scream till you’re hoarse, just to make up for lost
time.”
“May I take my dinner, sir?” inquired I.
“Is it your dinner you mane?—to be sure you may; but, first, I’ll just look into the basket and its
contents; for you see, Mr Keene, there’s some victuals that don’t agree with larning; and if you eat
them, you’ll not be fit for your work when your play-hours are over. W hat’s easy of digestion will do;
but what’s bad for little boys’ stomachs may get you into a scrape, and then it will end in a blow-up;
that is, you’ll have a taste of the ferrule or the rod—two assistants of mine, to whom I’ve not yet had
the pleasure of introducing you—all in good time. If what I’ve hear of you be true, you and they will
be better acquainted afore long.”
Mr O’Gallagher then examined the contents of my basket; my aunt Milly had taken care that I should
be well provided: there was a large paper of beef sandwiches, a piece of bread and cheese, and three
or four slices of seed-cake. Mr O’Gallagher opened all the packages, and, after a pause, said—
“Now, Master Keene, d’ye think you would ever guess how I came by all my larning, and what I fed
upon when it was pumped into me? Then I’ll tell you; it was dry bread, with a little bit of cheese
when I could get it, and that wasn’t often. Bread and cheese is the food to make a scholar of ye; and
mayhap one slice of the cake mayn’t much interfere, so take them, and run away to the play-ground
as fast as you can; and, d’ye hear me, Master Keene, recollect your grace before meat—‘For what we
have received, the Lord make us truly thankful.’ Now, off wid you. The rest of the contents are
confiscated for my sole use, and your particular benefit.”
Mr O’Gallagher grinned as he finished his oration; and he looked so much like a wild beast, that I was
glad to be off as fast as I could. I turned round as I went out of the door, and perceived that the
sandwiches were disappearing with wonderful rapidity; but I caught his eye: it was like that of a
tiger’s at his meal, and I was off at redoubled speed.
Chapter Five.
As soon as I gained the play-ground, which was, in fact, nothing more than a small piece of waste
land, to which we had no more claim than any other people, I sat down by a post, and commenced my
dinner off what Mr O’Gallagher had thought proper to leave me. I was afraid of him, it is true, for his
severity to the other boys convinced me that he would have little mercy upon me, if I dared to thwart
him; but indignation soon began to obtain the mastery over my fears and I began to consider if I
could not be even with him for his barefaced robbery of my dinner; and then I reflected whether it
would not be better to allow him to take my food if I found out that by so doing he treated me well;
and I resolved, at all events, to delay a little. The hour of play was now over, and a bell summoned
us all to school; I went in with the others and took my seat where Mr O’Gallagher had before desired
me.
As soon as all was silent, my pedagogue beckoned me to him.
“Now, Mr Keene,” said he, “you’ll be so good as to lend me your ears—that is, to listen while I talk to
you a little bit. D’ye know how many roads there are to larning? Hold your tongue. I ask you because
I know you don’t know, and because I’m going to tell you. There are exactly three roads: the first is
the eye, my jewel; and if a lad has a sharp eye like yours, it’s a great deal that will get into his head
by that road; you’ll know a thing when you see it again, although you mayn’t know your own father—
that’s a secret only known to your mother. The second road to larning, young spalpeen, is the ear;
and if you mind all people say, and hear all you can, you’ll gain a great many truths and just ten
times as much more in the shape of lies. You see the wheat and the chaff will come together, and
you must pick the latter out of the former at any seasonable future opportunity. Now we come to the
third road to larning, which is quite a different sort of road; because, you see, the two first give us
little trouble, and we trot along almost whether we will or not: the third and grand road is the head
itself, which requires the eye and the ear to help it; and two other assistants, which we call memory
and application; so you see we have the visual, then the aural, and then the mental roads—three
hard words which you don’t understand, and which I shan’t take the trouble to explain to such an
animal as you are; for I never throw away pearls to swine, as the saying is. Now, then, Mr Keene, we
must come to another part of our history. As there are three roads to larning, so there are three
manes or implements by which boys are stimulated to larn: the first is the ruler, which you saw me
shy at the thick skull of Johnny Target, and you see’d what a rap it gave him; well, then, the second
is the ferrule—a thing you never heard of, perhaps; but I’ll show it you; here it is,” continued Mr
O’Gallagher, producing a sort of flat wooden ladle with a hole in the centre of it. “The ruler is for the
head, as you have seen; the ferrule is for the hand. You have seen me use the ruler; now I’ll show
you what I do with the ferrule.”
“You Tommy Goskin, come here, sir.”
Tommy Goskin put down his book, and came up to his master with a good deal of doubt in his
countenance.
“Tommy Goskin, you didn’t say your lesson well to-day.”
“Yes I did, Mr O’Gallagher,” replied Tommy, “you said I did yourself.”
“Well then, sir, you didn’t say it well yesterday,” continued Mr O’Gallagher.
“Yes I did, sir,” replied the boy, whimpering.
“And is it you who dares to contradict me?” cried Mr O’Gallagher; “at all events, you won’t say it well
to-morrow, so hold out your right hand.”
Poor Tommy held it out, and roared lustily at the first blow, wringing his fingers with the smart.
“Now your left hand, sir; fair play is a jewel; always carry the dish even.”
Tommy received a blow on his left hand, which was followed up with similar demonstrations of
suffering.
“There sir you may go now,” said Mr O’Gallagher, “and mind you don’t do it again; or else there’ll be a
blow-up. And now Master Keene, we come to the third and last, which is the birch for the tail—here it
is—have you ever had a taste?”
“No, sir,” replied I.
“Well, then, you have that pleasure to come, and come it will, I don’t doubt, if you and I are a few
days longer acquainted. Let me see—”
Here Mr O’Gallagher looked round the school, as if to find a culprit; but the boys, aware of what was
going on, kept their eyes so attentively to their books, that he could not discover one; at last he
singled out a fat chubby lad.
“Walter Puddock, come here, sir.”
Walter Puddock came accordingly; evidently he gave himself up for lost.
“Walter Puddock, I just have been telling Master Keene that you’re the best Latin scholar in the whole
school. Now, sir, don’t make me out to be a liar—do me credit,—or, by the blood of the O’Gallaghers,
I’ll flog ye till you’re as thin as a herring. W hat’s the Latin for a cocked hat, as the Roman gentlemen
wore with their togeys?”
Walter Puddock hesitated a few seconds, and then, without venturing a word of remonstrance, let
down his trousers.
“See now the guilty tief, he knows what’s coming. Shame upon you, Walter Puddock, to disgrace your
preceptor so, and make him tell a lie to young Master Keene. W here’s Phil Mooney? Come along, sir,
and hoist Walter Puddock: it’s no larning that I can drive into you, Phil, but it’s sartain sure that by
your manes I drive a little into the other boys.”
Walter Puddock, as soon as he was on the back of Phil Mooney, received a dozen cuts with the rod,
well laid on. He bore it without flinching, although the tears rolled down his cheeks.
“There, Walter Puddock, I told you it would end in a blow-up; go to your dictionary, you dirty
blackguard, and do more credit to your education and superior instruction from a certain person who
shall be nameless.”
Mr O’Gallagher laid the rod on one side, and then continued—
“Now...
